Chapter 8 – Cloud Service Strategy

As discussed in Chapter 5, IBM Integrated Service
Management provides the software, systems, best practices and expertise
needed to manage infrastructure, people and processes—across the entire service
chain—in the data center, across design and delivery, and tailored for specific
industry requirements. The Service Management Goals are the following

Visibility
- The ability to see everything that’s going on
across the infrastructure.

Control
- The ability to keep the infrastructure in its
desired state by enforcing policies.

Automation
- The ability to manage huge and growing
infrastructures while controlling cost and quality.

These principles and goals are the same for Cloud
Service Management as well. End to End Service Management includes the
following steps.

Service
Strategy

Service
Design

Service
Transition

Service
Operation

Service
Improvement

Cloud Maturity and Readiness

Cloud Service Strategy is mainly
about deciding what services do we want to deliver and how do we ensure
competitiveness of providing the same through cloud. Today’s clients are
seeking to utilize their assets to enable business innovation. The service
strategy is all about choosing from across multiple compute / deployment
models.We needed to access current IT infrastructure
and need to identify and evaluate the set of capabilities for their readiness
to move to cloud.

Selecting between the Cloud Deployment Models

For mission critical workloads that
drive business innovation a private cloud is preferred. For secondary workloads
and supporting business functions a public cloud is suitable. While public
cloud delivers select set of standardized business process, application and/or
infrastructure services on a flexible price per use basis focused on utility,
the private cloud drives efficiency, standardization and best practices while
retaining greater customization and control with focus on innovation.

Cloud Standards

When doing Service Strategy, you
need to consider the expertise across industries and standards. At this Service
Strategy phase, we normally consider reusing/leveraging solutions based on
industry best practices including ITIL,
CoBIT, eTOM,
and ISO.

Calculating the ROI

Cloud Computing ROI is the important consideration/step
during the Service Strategy phase. This includes you verifying the following
fundamental aspects related to making a service available on the cloud.

Cost

TCO

Capex
vs Opex

Utilization

Time

Automation

Time
to Value

Quality

Service
Level Agreements (SLA)

Green
/ Compliance Requirements

Flexibility/Choice

There are several ROI frameworks and methods available
that allows you validate the approach/strategy against these three fundamental
aspects.Most of the service companies
would have their own frameworks which are typically Intellectual Capital of
their service teams.

Choosing the right
Delivery Models and Workloads

Based on the Enterprise Architecture approach, we need
to choose from the many available options of delivery models and work load.
This includes the services and consulting engagement to obtain clarity on
business drivers (business vision, strategy, timeline, business model, and
business operating model) and how they can leverage technology and value
enablers from cloud computing. Then in
this cycle you also need to identify the right set of workloads to move to
cloud that fetches maximum benefits from cloud computing.The flexibility that the business operating model
gets to innovate on the business model is another key consideration.This could be iterative effort of identifying
candidates and then slowly moving them to production.

Key Benefits from Service Strategy

Improved
Innovation - Dramatically improve business value and IT’s effect on
time-to-market by enabling the business workloads to rapidly and
accurately be deployed on multiple platforms when and where they are
needed.

Chapter 9 – Cloud Service Design

Once you have installed and setup your management platform,
we are ready to start with designing and delivering the cloud services using
the platform.

SOA & Cloud

We use the same principles of Service Oriented
Modeling and Architecture (SOMA) that links business intent with its
realization through IT for Cloud Services modeling as well.In SOA, we use the business process models to
understand a series of sequentially organized business activities, events that
trigger them,roles that perform them,
inputs, outputs, control points, etc…As
discussed in the Service Strategy section, we look to design the Cloud Services
which are better aligned to business requirements

As in SOA, for service identification and design one could
take any of the following approach.

Top-Down

Bottom-Up

Meet
in the Middle

In a top-down approach development generally usually starts
with a high-level business and structural modeling of the service. Then you
also define the management processes that are required service to be in
operation. The top-down approach is further characterized in that no or only
few automation or fulfillment assets exist when starting with the solution
design. Design and implementation of those assets, including their interface
and granularity, will be driven primarily from the high-level automation model.
The advantage of the top-down approach is a clear design of the service to be automated,
including the structural and operational model.

The bottom-up approach is usually characterized by a large
number of automation assets that already exist. This may be in the form of many
scripts or workflows already exists. In bottom-up approach, we take these low
level assets and abstracting them as a cloud service.

Practically we might go with a combination of both
approaches mentioned above as the meet-in-the-middle approach.

We model the service so we could learn, capture, and
abstract details about “things,” their structures, relationships between them
and, often, their behaviors (collaborations, states).All the factors that we consider during
modeling a service in SOA are very much applicable for a cloud service too.
These include but not limited to

Service
Portfolio ( in the case of cloud often referred as service catalog)

Service Management & Cloud

Now lets discuss the same from the Service Management / ITIL perspective. Cloud services have a lifecycle that maps to this service
management lifecycle.

The Service Design phase includes the service definition,
creation of the service and registering the same into a catalog.We will look at how these can be done using Tivoli
Service Automation Manager in the next Chapter.

Service Design is a critical step that delivers the
following benefits

Cloud
Computing is a term that is often bandied about the web these days and
often attributed to different things that -- on the surface -- don't
seem to have that much in common. So just what is Cloud Computing? I've
heard it called a service, a platform, and even an operating system.
Some even link it to such concepts as grid computing -- which is a way
of taking many different computers and linking them together to form one
very big computer.

A
basic definition of cloud computing is the use of the Internet for the
tasks you perform on your computer. The "cloud" represents the Internet.

Cloud Computing is a Service

The simplest thing that a computer does is allow us to store and
retrieve information. We can store our family photographs, our favorite
songs, or even save movies on it. This is also the most basic service
offered by cloud computing.

Flickr is
a great example of cloud computing as a service. While Flickr started
with an emphasis on sharing photos and images, it has emerged as a great
place to store those images. In many ways, it is superior to storing
the images on your computer.

First,
Flickr allows you to easily access your images no matter where you are
or what type of device you are using. While you might upload the photos
of your vacation to Greece from your home computer, you can easily
access them from your laptop while on the road or even from youriPhone while sitting in your local coffee house.

Second, Flickr lets you share the images. There's no need to burn them to a compact disc or save them on a flash drive. You can just send someone your Flickr address.

Third,
Flickr provides data security. If you keep your photos on your local
computer, what happens if your hard drive crashes? You'd better hope you
backed them up to a CD or a flash drive! By uploading the images to
Flickr, you are providing yourself with data security by creating a
backup on the web. And while it is always best to keep a local copy --
either on your computer, a compact disc or a flash drive -- the truth is
that you are far more likely to lose the images you store locally than
Flickr is of losing your images.

This is also where grid computing comes
into play. Beyond just being used as a place to store and share
information, cloud computing can be used to manipulate information. For
example, instead of using a local database, businesses could rent CPU
time on a web-based database.

The
downside? It is not all clear skies and violin music. The major
drawback to using cloud computing as a service is that it requires an
Internet connection. So, while there are many benefits, you'll lose them
off if you are cut off from the Web.

Cloud Computing is a Platform

The web is the operating system of the future. While
not exactly true -- we'll always need a local operating system -- this
popular saying really means that the web is the next great platform.

What's
a platform? It is the basic structure on which applications stand. In
other words, it is what runs our apps. Windows is a platform. The Mac OS
is a platform. But a platform doesn't have to be an operating system.
Java is a platform even though it is not an operating system.

Through cloud computing, the web is becoming a platform. With trends such as Office 2.0,
we are seeing more and more applications that were once the province of
desktop computers being converted into web applications. Word
processors like Buzzword and office suites likeGoogle Docs are
slowly becoming as functional as their desktop counterparts and could
easily replace software such as Microsoft Office in many homes or small
offices.

But cloud computing transcends Office 2.0 to deliver applications of all shapes and sizes fromweb mashups to Facebook applications to web-based massively multiplayer online role-playing games.
With new technologies that help web applications store some information
locally -- which allows an online word processor to be used offline as
well -- and a new browser called Chrome to push the envelope, Google is a major player in turning cloud computing into a platform.

Cloud Computing and Interoperability

A major barrier to cloud computing is the interoperability of
applications. While it is possible to insert an Adobe Acrobat file into a
Microsoft Word document, things get a little bit stickier when we talk
about web-based applications.

This
is where some of the most attractive elements to cloud computing --
storing the information on the web and allowing the web to do most of
the 'computing' -- becomes a barrier to getting things done. While we
might one day be able to insert our Google Docs word processor document
into our Google Docs spreadsheet, things are a little stickier when it
comes to inserting a Buzzword document into our Google Docs spreadsheet.

Ignoring
for a moment that Google probably doesn't want you to have the ability
to insert a competitor's document into their spreadsheet, this creates a
ton of data security issues. So not only would we need a standard for
web 'documents' to become web 'objects' capable of being generically
inserted into any other web document, we'll also need a system to
maintain a certain level of security when it comes to this type of data
sharing.

Possible? Certainly, but it isn't anything that will happen overnight.

What is Cloud Computing?

This
brings us back to the initial question. What is cloud computing? It is
the process of taking the services and tasks performed by our computers
and bringing them to the web.

What does this mean to us?

With the "cloud" doing most of the work, this frees us up to access the
"cloud" however we choose. It could be a super-charged desktop PC
designed for high-end gaming, or a "thin client" laptop running the
Linux operating system with an 8 gig flash drive instead of a
conventional hard drive, or even an iPhone or a Blackberry.

We
can also get at the same information and perform the same tasks whether
we are at work, at home, or even a friend's house. Not that you would
want to take a break between rounds of Texas Hold'em to do some work for the office -- but the prospect of being able to do it is pretty cool.

Faced with a nasty loss of credibility, a string of poor financial
results, shrinking market share in its core business, an unwieldy and
alienating bureaucracy blamed for the top executive exodus it been
experiencing, and a stock price that's plunged into the toilet Cisco,
once an economic bellwether, is promising to do more than simply kill
off its once-popular Flip video camcorder business and lay 550 people
off, an admission that its foray into the consumer segment had largely
failed.

It said in a press release issued Thursday morning that it's going to
a "streamlined operating model" focused on five areas, not apparently
the literally 30 different directions it's been going in although it did
say, come to think of it, something about "greater focus" so maybe it's
not really cutting back.

These focus areas are, it said, "routing, switching, and services;
collaboration; data center virtualization and cloud; video; and
architectures for business transformation."

Nobody seems to know what that last one is and the Wall Street
Journal criticized Cisco for not being able to explain in plain English
what it's doing and Barron's complained that it needed a Kremlinologist
to decrypt the jargon in the press release.

Anyway Cisco's apparently going to try to simplify its sales,
services and engineering organizations in the next 120 days or by July
31 when its next fiscal year begins. Well, maybe not everything, it
warned, but sales ought to be reorganized by then.

This streamlining seems to mean that:

Field operations will be organized into three geographic regions
for faster decision making and greater accountability: the Americas,
EMEA and Asia Pacific, Japan and Greater China still under sales chief
Robert Lloyd;

Services will follow key customer segments and delivery models still under its multi-tasking COO Gary Moore;

Engineering, still reporting to Moore, will now be led by
two-in-a-box Pankaj Patel and Padmasree Warrior and aside from the
company's five focus areas there will be a dedicated Emerging Business
Group under Marthin De Beer focused on "select early-phase businesses"
"with continued focus on integrating the Medianet architecture for video
across the company."

Lastly, it's going to "refine" - but apparently not dismantle its
hydra-headed, decision-inhibiting Council structure blamed for
frustrating and running off key talent - down to three "that reinforce
consistent and globally aligned customer focus and speed to market
across major areas of the business: Enterprise, Service Provider and
Emerging Countries. These councils will serve to further strengthen the
connection between strategy and execution across functional groups.
Resource allocation and profitability targets will move to the sales and
engineering leadership teams which will have accountability and direct
responsibility for business results."

It's unclear whether any of this means layoffs.

Cisco piped in a quote credited to Moore saying. "Cisco is focused on
making a series of changes throughout the next quarter and as we enter
the new fiscal year that will make it easier to work for and with Cisco,
as we focus our portfolio, simplify operations and manage expenses. Our
five company priorities are for a reason - they are the five drivers of
the future of the network, and they define what our customers know
Cisco is uniquely able to provide for their business success. The new
operating model will enable Cisco to execute on the significant market
opportunities of the network and empower our sales, service and
engineering organizations."

If you haven’t signed up yet, be sure to check out the October cloud computing for developers virtual event. Participants in this two-day event will learn how to leverage the power of the cloud to tackle the toughest business and technical challenges! This two-day event will be packed with real-world examples and live demos of techniques and products – and you’ll see it all without leaving your desk. It's going to be exciting to have you all there with us getting smarter learning new technical skills to prepare us all for a smarter planet.

Here's some of what's in plan for the event. Remember that you can ask as many questions as you wish to our team of experts about any of our sessions.

Day 1:

IBM technical experts will kick off the event on day 1 with a session on the IBM development and test cloud and you'll see the cloud in action in a live demo. Our experts will discuss use cases and scenarios that will help you as you develop and test in the cloud.

Next we'll discuss a roadmap on how you and IBM can move your application to pattern-based middleware and why infrastructure-as-a-service alone is not enough to reduce implementation challenges when making the move to software-as-a-service.

Then you will learn how IBM's new Cast Iron Cloud Integration Platform has helped hundreds of customers just like you connect their cloud and on-premise applications in just days with its 'configuration, not coding' approach. You will see an engaging live ERP to cloud CRM demo.

The final day 1 session will demonstrate how to efficiently package middleware and/or applications so that they can be easily deployed into dynamic "cloudified" IT infrastructure. Techniques addressed in this session will include Anatomy of an Open Virtual Appliance, OVA repository and lifecycle, single and multi-image OVAs, best practices and examples of OVF.

That's not all folks, remember we have a full set of sessions on the 2nd day to. Remember, you'll have to register separately for day 2.

Day 2

We'll start the day off showing you how solutions such as eXtreme Scale can scale the database layer. And you'll learn how eXtreme Scale and XC10 help solution-wide HTTP session management, and the WebSphere Application Server dynamic cache service for page fragments.

Ever wondered why iSeries may be an ideal platform for cloud computing? The next session will show you how iSeries has been architected for applications that can be delivered in a hosted or SaaS environment, drilling down into the capabilities that make IBM iSeries well suited for SaaS.

I'm sure you will not want to leave before you hear best practices for designing databases for multitenancy and resiliency which is the topic of the next session. Learn about use cases of AWS and DB2 instances, database schemas as well as a demonstration of setting up HADR in the cloud.

We'll wrap up with a final session examining some technical considerations associated with building a secure application in a cloud environment and then discuss how they can be addressed with IBM products including DataPower, TFIM, TSIEM and TSPM.

We are giving you a choice. Choose the 2-day event best suited to you depending on where you are in the world. Both events will have very similar sessions. Register for the event that is best timed for North American (October 12-13) or European (October 26-27) time zones.

Cloud Security – The top most concern and Opportunity

First of all, wishing all my readers a
very happy and prosperous year 2012 ahead.

Few things happened towards the end
of the year which was significant to me. IBM acquired Q1 Labs to Drive Greater Security Intelligence and created a New Security Division. I also joined this
newly formed IBM Security Systems team last quarter as a solution architect for cloud security. This is a great time to be looking at cloud security. Happy to be on this new role where I can provide solution to customers to handle their cloud security concerns and make it easy for them to adopt cloud and innovate at a faster rate than before.

In my previous
post, we discussed security as the top most concern why customers and
enterprises are not adopting cloud.As
part of year’s posts, I plan to discuss the various security issues and aspects
of cloud computing.

We will explore to understand what are
the unique challenges with Cloud Security and discuss what aspects is important
for each customer
adoption pattern that we have seen.

We will also learn how the IBM Security
Framework can be used to address the various security challenges namely

·Security
governance, risk management andcompliance

·People
and Identity

·Data
and information

·Application
and process

·Network,
server and endpoint

·Physical
infrastructure

Looking
forward to your comments and inputs in this journey of understanding the
security requirements for cloud and how we can overcome this major challenge to
cloud adoption using the World’s Most Comprehensive Security Portfolio – IBM
Security Systems. I’ll
try and elaborate the IBM Point of View on cloud security and discuss the architectural
model to address the security requirements for cloud. Stay tuned and keep those comments and inputs coming.

IBM
Cloud Service Provider Platform (CSP2) is a carrier grade cloud offering
that contains enhancements over the base ISDM solution to provide a
multi-tenancy environment that allows both internal and external users to exist
on the same cloud and management platforms. IBM's new CSP2 platform provides
cloud services such as desktop management to influence the cloud based business
strategy of communications service providers.

The IBM
Cloud Service Provider Platform is specifically tailored to the needs of CSPs
and is designed to help them successfully:

Create cloud services that
harness the strengths of a diverse partner ecosystem and rapidly enable
applications and solutions to extend their market reach.

Communications service providers (CSPs) around the world are
looking for smarter ways of doing business. They are being challenged to
transform the way services are created, managed, and delivered. CSP2 neatly
integrates and extends the SPDE (Service Provider Delivery Environment) for
Communication Service Providers to build the ecosystem to become a cloud
service provider.For a cloud based
business strategy - check out the video from Scott on the
value of CSP2 for CSPs.

With the recent exploration of cloud computing technologies, organizations are using cloud service models like infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) along with cloud deployment models (public, private and hybrid) to deploy their applications.

There is a concept in the cloud world that is based on application characteristics: the concept of cloud-enabled and cloud-centric applications. In this blog post, Dan Boulia provides a concise explanation about the concept.

You can say that a cloud-enabled application is an application that was moved to cloud, but it was originally developed for deployment in a traditional data center. Some characteristics of the application had to be changed or customized for the cloud. On the other hand, a cloud-centric application (also known as cloud-native and cloud-ready) is an application that was developed with the cloud principles of multi-tenancy, elastic scaling and easy integration and administration in its design.

When developing an application that will be deployed in the cloud, you must keep the cloud principles in mind. They should be taken into account as part of the application. So we come to the first point: Is it better to work within an existing application or to completely redesign it? There is no exact answer because it depends. You have to evaluate the level of effort (labor, time and cost) to transform the application into cloud-enabled versus the effort to completely redesign it to a cloud-centric application.

The second point is: Will my cloud-enabled application work better than a new cloud-centric application? Here I would say no. It’s rare to find an existing traditional application that was developed with any of the cloud principles in mind. It may be possible to construct the same feel (for the user) as a cloud-centric application, but it will not function the same way internally.

Changing an existing application could be easier since you already have the skills and tools in the organization and you won’t need to learn any new technology. However, while it may be easier to change the application, in the long term it will be harder to maintain. New technologies (social media, mobile, sensors) continue to appear and it is becoming more important to integrate them. Doing this will require additional and continuous effort and may exponentially increase development and supporting costs.

Now comes the third point: What can you use to help expedite the move or redevelopment of an existing application to a cloud-centric model? Many cloud companies have development tools that can help an organization on this path. For instance, IBM has recently announced IBM Bluemix, a development platform to create cloud-centric applications. Shamim Hossain explains the capabilities in more detail in his blog post. Another option is to use IBM PureApplication System to expedite the development.

I discussed some points here that I hope can provide a better understand about an important concept in cloud computing and how to address it. Let me know your thoughts on it! Follow me at Twitter @varga_sergio to talk more about it

With the barrage of cloud news constantly hitting the market, it can be challenging for organizations to differentiate between all of the solutions and capabilities out there.

But with the latest cloud offering from IBM, the value proposition is quite simple—you get a low-cost, low-risk entry to cloud computing with compelling features. This is especially important for organizations who are still trying to leverage the cost savings of virtualization.

Our customers have told us they’re looking to cloud computing to increase agility—the ability of IT to evolve and meet business needs—and they’re looking for ways to control expenses related to IT investments. They also want to reduce IT complexity while at the same time increase utilization, reliability and scalability of IT resources. And they are looking for the ability toexpand capabilities gradually, as their needs change and grow.

In designing a solution to meet all of these needs, we developed IBM SmartCloud Provisioning. Using industry best practices for cloud deployment and management, this new solution allows organizations to quickly deploy cloud resources with automated provisioning, parallel scalability and integrated fault tolerance to increase operational efficiency and respond to user needs.

The name doesn’t tell the whole story though. IBM SmartCloud Provisioning is a full-featured solution wrapped up in an easy-to-implement package. That means you get:

·Control over image sprawl and reduced business risk through rich analytics, image versioning and federated image library features

Using this technology, we’ve seen customers get a cloud up and running in just hours—realizing immediate time to value. It’s fast—administrators have been able to go from bare metal to ready-for-work in under five minutes, or start a single VM and load OS in under 10 seconds, or scaleup to 50,000 VMs in an hour (50 nodes).

But ultimately, these IT benefits have translated to business benefits—customers have been able to see how cloud computing can impact their business, and how they can accelerate the delivery of new services to drive revenue.

With the new release of IBM SmartCloud Provisioning this week, you can try and see firsthandthe potential of this breakthrough technology to accelerate your journey to cloud.

And if you want a preview of what’s in development, you can join our Open Beta program for access to beta-level code.

Dubuque, Iowa and IBM Combine Analytics, Cloud Computing and Community Engagement to Conserve Water

DUBUQUE, Iowa, - 20 May 2011:The City of Dubuque and IBM (NYSE:IBM) today announced that the IBM analytics and cloud computing technology deployed in 2010 by Dubuque as part of its Smarter Sustainable Dubuque research helped reduce water utilization by 6.6 percent and increased leak detection and response eightfold.

The Smarter Sustainable Dubuque Water Pilot Study empowered 151 Dubuque households with information, analysis, insights and social computing around their water consumption for nine weeks. By providing citizens and city officials with an integrated view of water consumption, the Water Pilot resulted in water conservation, increased leak reporting rate, and encouraged behavior changes.

Water savings were measured by comparing the consumption of the 151 pilot households with another 152 control group households with identical smart meters but without the access to the analysis and insights provided by the Water Pilot Study for the nine-week duration.

The smarter meter system monitored water consumption every 15 minutes and collected and communicated to the IBM Research Cloud. Data was collected from information including weather, demographics, and household characteristics. Using cloud computing, the data was analyzed to trigger notification of potential leaks and anomalies, and helped volunteers understand their consumption in greater detail. Volunteers were only able to view their own consumption habits while city management can see the aggregate data. All participating homes were volunteers and the data being collected was anonymous and contained no confidential information.

Participating households were alerted about potential anomalies and leaks and were able to get a better understanding of their consumption patterns and, compare and contrast it anonymously with others in the community. Pilot study participants accessed their personal water usage information through a website portal and participated in online games and competitions aimed at promoting sustainable behavior enabling them to become fully engaged and informed about their consumption and the impact of the changes they made to it. Participants were able to see their data expressed in dollar savings, gallon savings and carbon reduction.

Vivek KundraFederal CIO and Administrator of E-Government and ITOffice of Management and Budget

Vivek
Kundra has been an impact player. Since joining the Obama
administration as the government’s first CIO, Kundra has been in
constant motion, championing one initiative after another, including
cloud computing, transparency, metrics and data center consolidation.

But
in December 2010, Kundra got everyone’s attention — inside the
Washington Beltway and beyond — when he rolled out the administration’s
much-anticipated 25-point plan for reforming IT management. The
initiative, which pulls together some ideas that have been floated
before, provides an IT road map for the next two years. It focuses on
shorter procurement cycles, better program management and improved
government/industry communications.

Kundra got kudos for
spearheading an extensive outreach effort that gave industry groups and
agency stakeholders ample opportunity to weigh in on the plan.

Come to the first Cloud Foundry Meetup in the Waltham area this coming Wednesday, December 11th!
This meetup is your opportunity to learn more about Cloud Foundry and meet people excited about the technology.
On the agenda is an Introduction to Cloud Foundry: the technology and the community by Chris Ferris of IBM.
This will be followed by a talk by Renat Khasanshyn of Altoros on Implementing Cloud Foundry 2.0.
More information at: //bit.ly/1azS5PX

SAN JOSE, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 07/19/11 --
Brocade (NASDAQ: BRCD) today announced that FleetCor,
a leading independent global provider of specialized payment products
and services to businesses, commercial fleets, major oil companies,
petroleum marketers and government fleets, has selected Brocade as the
vendor to build its cloud-optimized
network. This new network enhances FleetCor's ability to securely
process millions of transactions monthly and ultimately better serve its
commercial accounts in 18 countries in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Millions of commercial payment cards are in the hands of FleetCor
cardholders worldwide, and they are used to purchase billions of gallons
of fuel per year. Given this volume of network-based transactions, network reliability, scalability and security were critical factors for FleetCor to consider in its selection process to maintain superior customer satisfaction.

In addition, FleetCor selected Brocade as its networking expert to help
evolve its data center and IT operations into a more agile private cloud
infrastructure. Brocade® cloud-optimized networks
are designed to reduce network complexity while increasing performance
and reliability. Brocade solutions for private cloud networking are
purpose-built to support highly virtualized data centers.

"When we evaluated networking vendors to build our private cloud, we
looked at market leadership and non-stop access to critical data," said
Waddaah Keirbeck, senior vice president global IT, FleetCor. "Brocade
cloud-optimized networking solutions are perfect for our data centers
because they allow us to optimize applications faster, virtually
eliminate downtime and help us meet service level agreements for our
customers. Moving to a cloud-based model also provides us the
flexibility to make adjustments on the fly and access secure information
virtually anywhere and anytime."

FleetCor installed a Brocade MLXe router for each of its three data
centers, citing scalability as a major driver for the purchase. This
approach enables FleetCor to virtualize its geographically distributed
data centers and leverage the equipment it already has, at the highest
level, to achieve maximum return on investment. The Brocade MLXe
provides additional benefits for FleetCor by using less power and has a
smaller footprint than competitive routers; critical in power-and
space-constrained locations in order to allow for growth. The Brocade
MLXe also enables continuous business operation for FleetCor based on
Multi-Chassis Trunking, massive scalability supporting highest 100 GbE
density in the industry with no performance degradation for advanced
features like IPv6 and flexible chassis options to meet network and
business requirements.

The Brocade ServerIron ADX
Series of high-performance application delivery switches provides
FleetCor with a broad range of application optimization functions to
help ensure the reliable delivery of critical applications.
Purpose-built for large-scale, low-latency environments, these switches
accelerate application performance, load-balance high volumes of data
and improve application availability while making the most efficient use
of the company's existing infrastructure. It also delivers dynamic
application provisioning and de-provisioning for FleetCor's highly
virtualized data center, enables seamless migration and translation to
IPv6 with unmatched performance.

As an added benefit for its bottom line, through the use of Brocade ADX Series switches and Brocade MLX™ Series routers
FleetCor has eliminated thousands of costly networking cables, saving
it hundreds of thousands of dollars and allowing the company to segment,
streamline and secure its network. FleetCor has also been able to
easily integrate Brocade network technology with third-party offerings
already installed in the network, for complete investment protection.
FleetCor anticipates moving to 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) solutions for
its backbone switch in the near future.

"We wanted a dependable, secure, redundant, 24 by 7 backbone switch in
each of our data centers to help us leverage the benefits of cloud
computing and the Brocade MLXe delivered on all fronts," said Keirbeck.
"By virtualizing our data center, Brocade allows for non-stop access to
the mission-critical data that FleetCor and its customers rely on every
day. We chose the Brocade MLXe because of the tremendous results we
already saw from our existing Brocade solutions and the exceptional
support and service."

According to a report from analyst firm Gartner, "Although 'economic
affordability' is an immediate, attractive benefit, the biggest
advantages (of cloud services) result from characteristics such as
built-in elasticity and scalability, reduced barriers to entry,
flexibility in service provisioning and agility in contracting."(1)

(1)Gartner " Cloud-Computing Service Trends: Business Value Opportunities and Management Challenges, Part 1" February 23, 2010

About BrocadeBrocade, the B-wing symbol, DCX, Fabric OS, and SAN Health are registered trademarks, and Brocade Assurance, Brocade NET Health,
Brocade One, CloudPlex, MLX, VCS, VDX, and When the Mission Is
Critical, the Network Is Brocade are trademarks of Brocade
Communications Systems, Inc., in the United States
and/or in other countries. Other brands, products, or service names
mentioned are or may be trademarks or service marks of their respective
owners.

Brocade, the B-wing symbol, DCX, Fabric OS, and SAN Health are registered trademarks, and Brocade Assurance, Brocade NET Health,
Brocade One, CloudPlex, MLX, VCS, VDX, and When the Mission Is
Critical, the Network Is Brocade are trademarks of Brocade
Communications Systems, Inc., in the United States
and/or in other countries. Other brands, products, or service names
mentioned are or may be trademarks or service marks of their respective
owners.

Notice: This document is for informational purposes only and does not
set forth any warranty, expressed or implied, concerning any equipment,
equipment feature, or service offered or to be offered by Brocade.
Brocade reserves the right to make changes to this document at any time,
without notice, and assumes no responsibility for its use. This
informational document describes features that may not be currently
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